Kyrenaia wrote:Altinyarat-Palace, Malakiard, Khanate of Khond.
Princess Aurelia bint-Damir.I was, for a moment, stumped, as Agus began to laugh at my misfortune.
It took a few moments, but then I laughed with her – it was an absurd situation, after all, me complimenting her rear end while I was massaging it, the fact, that I was massaging her, the entire reason why she was here... I did not mind the latter, but the reason for it, I could live without.
And then...
“It came, very, very wrong.”, she said and looked away, “B-but thank you; I guess? Y-you also have a beautiful body as well...”
I paused in my very breath, my heart skipped a beat.
Many people had told me, that I was beautiful, or that certain parts of my body were beautiful or that I looked beautiful doing certain things (my favourite being, when someone told me I looked so cool when horsearchering), but this... had a different ring to it.
“Guess we should continue, right?”
“Yeah, let's.”, I said and moved on, my cheeks still red, to her legs.
Massaging the legs came with me rising from my position, standing next to Agus and went one after the other. From the hips down towards the feet, I ran my hands, rubbed thighs and calves, massaged knots and tight spots with my thumbs. I felt Agus shudder in delight at least once, her feeling my hands very clearly and delightfully.
I also worked on her feet for a bit, especially the sole, then stepped to her side.
“Turn on your back, please.”
Agus remained on her stomach for a moment, then rose to her knees and hands.
“This is doing wonders for my tense muscles...”, she said and rolled, sitting on her butt for a moment before lying back down. “...so I guess it is working...”
“You had some really tense ones.”, I agreed, watched her getting settled. “You might want to have a massage every now and again, even if it is just a short shoulder rub.” I thought for a moment. “If you want, I can teach you some self-massage techniques. They come in handy after long balls... especially for the legs.”
“That would be lovely, thank you.”, Agus agreed, then settled down. “I'm ready for the next phase.”
I nodded and swung myself back up, settling in a similar position as before, facing Agus taking a moment to look into her eyes. And
only her eyes. I exhaled deeply, then reached out to place my hands on her shoulders to...
“Your Majesties, pardon the... interruption?”, a voice said.
Our heads whipped around.
Standing in the doorway, fully dressed, was Agus' butler, looking at us with a bewildered expression. I could not hold it against him, after all, his employer was being straddled by another beautiful woman, hands half-extended, both blushing and it looked a whole lot as if he walked into something he was decidedly
not supposed to see.
There was an awkward silence before he cleared his throat, then reported: “Your brother reports a successful talk with the Sultana. She agreed to the mediation and he took her up on an invitation for dinner at the the Azure Hall.”
Agus nodded. “Very well, thank you. Please relay to him my gratitude and compliments.”
“Yes, Ma'am.”, he said, “If there is nothing else...”
“You're dismissed.” I wondered how Agus could keep such a straight face.
“Very well, Ma'am.”, he said, bowed to me... “Princess.” ...and turned on his heels. It reminded me a bit of a soldier parading, doing an about face.
“Bye, bye.”, I said and gave him a cheeky wave.
He left us and the two of us remained silent – it started with a snort from Agus, then we both broke out into laughter. It was a long and heartfelt laughter, so hard it made tears run down my cheeks, Agus curling a bit until we had calmed.
Gods, I had needed that...
The mood was gone, but replaced by something else, a friendly atmosphere, not one of
tenseness. I decided to abandon my perch and lie down next to Agus, close to my friend, who wrapped an arm around me.
Both of us grinned.
“He will remember this for a
long time.”, I said and grinned at Agus.
She grinned back at me. “He will.”, she confirmed, “But please don't hold it against him...”
I raised a hand and shook my head. “No, of course not. He was doing his duty.”, I said and resisted the urge to snuggle up to Agus. “Can't fault a man for that.”
Agus nodded.
We were silent for a while.
The Hot Room's temperature made me sweat and the steam certainly aided in that. It helped a lot with the massages.
Speaking of... without a word, I rose into my previous position, straddled Agus, I placed my hands on her stomach and began working on her abdominal muscles.
“Last time I gave one of those, the stomach was a lot larger.”, I said with a smile, then looked at Agus: “Yasmin. She was pregnant at the time... a week before Dschafar's birth, actually, and he kicked at me... he liked it.” I smiled. “She, too, of course, and Dad liked, that we were getting along so well.” I smiled at Agus, then added: “Children are far removed from our minds, aren't they?”
She nodded. “I want children one day, when I feel ready.”
“Yeah... finding the right person to raise them with might play a part as well.”, I added and Agus nodded. She might have noticed the way I phrased that. My hands stopped. Tears welled up. “I was considering who to ask for a sperm donation...”
Holding a hand in front of my mouth, I tried to hold back tears.
That
stupid bint from the UIS.
That
stupid Sultana.
That
stupid runt of a Princess.
I failed.
And just as the damn broke, I felt arms wrap around my neck, Agus' arms, who pulled me down into her embrace, onto her, hiding my face in the crook of her neck.
There, the damn broke and I bawled my eyes out into Agus' shoulder, who encouraged me to let it all out, softly stroking my back, softly petting my head, softly whispering to me.
For the last four years, I had fought for a relationship, I had bled for a relationship, I lost friends, both figuratively and literally... I literally split society into three pieces. And then, when push had come to shove, when the Sultana had given her verdict on how I was to proceed, and that had been a negative...
...Marcella dropped the entire relationship.
For a moment, I asked myself, if her love for me had been real in the first place.
If I wasn't just a nice way to pass time for her or worse, a political asset with some benefits.
And that she, now that I didn't have any use anymore, simply dropped me and tried to milk the situation for anything she could – amateurishly, yes, but she tried.
Yeah, well, didn't work, let's move on!, she had written. Where was her fight? Where was her spirit? Where was strength when one needed it?
She might not have been able to sway the Sultana's opinion, but she might have been able to sway the Sultana's decision, with some quick thinking and political manoeuvring...
It took a while, until I had calmed down, still hiding my face in the crook of Agus' neck. What would have been were uninteresting, what ifs were unreal... my friend, in who's arms I was, was not.
I rose to all fours, looked into Agus' eyes. Her arms were still wrapped around my neck as she looked at me with concern in them. Her arms were loose, giving me the room to leave if I so desired.
“Feeling better?”, she asked softly.
I answered by kissing her on the lips.
Let's leave it at 'There was a lot of tongue involved.'
Once I was reasonably certain, that she got the idea, I broke off the kiss and looked into her eyes again.
“I think, the temperature is getting to me.”, I told her softly and rose, running my fingertips from her sternum to her abdomen as I straddled her again, before rising fully from that position as well. “I think I'll retire to the Warm Room... follow me, when you are ready.”
And with that, and a light sway to my hips, I left her.
...what in the name of the Gods did I just do...?
Palace of the Azure Hall, Utica.
Princess Yasmin bint-Atif.I smiled at Pandereos.
“Thank you.”, I said and motioned for him to sit at the pool's edge, sitting down myself, both feet in the water. I looked over to Damir, then back at the young man. “He sure will do great things, if time will allow him... he has a huge to live up to, though...”
He looked at me quizzically.
“Dschafar ibn-Walid was Damir's Father.”, I said, “A hugely popular man, not wise, but certainly smart. He died young.”
Pandereos nodded, but didn't comment. “Wait, ibn-Walid? Does that mean...?”
“Yes.”, I said, “He was a commoner. Razia fought tooth and nail for the right to marry him. And he did, too.” I smiled. “According to legend, that was what convinced Damir's grandparents to allow it. Especially his Grandfather.”
“Very much unlike Marcella.”, Pandereos commented.
He knew the letters I would learn about tomorrow. Still, it surprised me a bit – how could that woman simply
drop Aurelia so easily? Like a hot potato or a piece of trash...
I nodded.
“Tell me, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Uh, no.”, Pandereos answered, “Though there are a few women, who have caught my eye, I have no girlfriend currently.”
I smiled. “Let me tell you something about us women, then...”, I said and smiled at him. “We like to be fought for. We like men, who get their rear ends into gear and who stand up for what they believe in, who conquer our hearts, minds and very
souls.” He nodded slowly. “And being able to cook might also be helpful.”
He burst out laughing at that.